Belgian probe bugged stadium box where Daniel Attard met Huawei lobbyist
Several MEPs are likely to have been recorded
The Huawei company box where MEP Daniel Attard attended an Anderlecht football match in the presence of a Huawei lobbyist was bugged, according to media reports.
On Friday, a Politico report said that Belgian police had obtained secret recordings of a leading Huawei lobbyist at the centre of the investigation. The recordings were primarily taken at the Huawei company box, although the lobbyist was also recorded having conversations in his car.
These recordings form part of the police’s request for the European Parliament to waive the immunity of several MEPs, including that of Attard.
The surveillance operation suggests that several MEPs, including Attard, were likely recorded having conversations with Huawei lobbyists. There is currently no indication whether the content of the recorded conversations indicates any wrongdoing.
Investigators believe that the Huawei company box was used by the company to make initial contacts with MEPs who they believe could help them secure favourable political positions.
According to Politico, the Huawei lobbyist at the centre of the investigation frequently attempted to attract newly elected MEPs by initially inviting their assistants to the company box.
In a statement earlier this week, Attard said that he attended the match in question on the invitation of one of his parliamentary assistants. The match was played just a week after Attard’s maiden speech in the European Parliament.
Questions were sent to Attard’s parliamentary assistant.
Attard said the topic of Huawei was “briefly raised” during the match, with Attard and the lobbyist agreeing to hold a formal meeting a fortnight later.
According to the EP’s meeting register, the meeting took place on October 7 in Strasbourg.
Attard was not the only MEP to hold a formal meeting with the company during this period. The register lists 22 separate meetings between Huawei and MEPs between September 2024 and February 2025.
In March 2025, Huawei was blacklisted by the European Parliament and Commission after allegations of bribery and trading in influence emerged.
Attard is one of five MEPs hit with a request for their immunity to be waived. The request was formally announced in the European Parliament yesterday.
However, the request to waive the immunity of one of the MEPs initially named, Giusi Princi, was later withdrawn, with Princi arguing that investigators had filed the request on a mistaken premise.